1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to securing wireless communications between a mobile device and a vehicle and, more particularly, to a method for secure pairing of a mobile device with a vehicle which uses OnStar as a trusted out-of-band medium to authenticate wireless communications between the mobile device and the vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Personal electronic devices have become an important and common part of people's everyday lives. Many people take a smart phone with them everywhere they go—for phone communications, internet access, text messaging, and various other applications. Many such people also spend a lot of time in their vehicle, and they expect their smart phone or other mobile device to be able to communicate with the vehicle. For example, it is desirable for phone calls to be placed or received in a hands-free fashion through the vehicle's audio system when a phone is inside the vehicle. This type of integration requires secure, reliable communications between the phone, or other mobile device, and the vehicle.
Bluetooth is a protocol which is widely used for wireless communications between mobile devices and vehicles. Bluetooth can support hands-free phone operation between a mobile phone and the vehicle, playing music in the vehicle from an MP3 player, and other features. Some vehicles now offer simplified pairing—or establishment of secure wireless communications—between Bluetooth mobile devices and the vehicle. However, for reasons of performance, functionality and security, in-cabin wireless local area network, or Wi-Fi, is envisioned as a preferred architecture for next-generation connectivity between mobile devices and vehicles.
Although Wi-Fi offers good security and functionality, it is challenging to establish secure Wi-Fi connectivity between a mobile device and a vehicle while maintaining user-friendliness. Encrypted communications may be established by making use of a shared secret, which typically requires a user to key in a password on the mobile device. Keying in the password can be cumbersome, and it certainly cannot be done while the vehicle is being driven. It would be desirable to enable secure Wi-Fi communications between a mobile device and a vehicle without requiring the manual entry of a password, by using an existing trusted out-of-band source to establish a shared secret.